Captain of the Indian staff for Billie Jean King Cup, Shalini Thakur Chawla.| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The newly appointed captain of the Indian staff, Shalini Thakur Chawla, is assured that Ankita Raina and firm will put up a very good fare within the Asia-Oceania group-1 tennis event to be performed in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from April 11 to fifteen.

The staff is ready to assemble in Tashkent on April 6, whereas Ankita and Rutuja Bhosale are set to affix a day later.

Shalini was the coach of the staff final 12 months and had served earlier for 3 years between 2011 and 2015.

“It is an added responsibility, but not much of a difference from being coach to captain,” mentioned Shalini, who runs a tennis centre within the Capital alongside along with her brother, former nationwide champion Ashutosh Singh.

“We have a good team. Our girls are sharp, strong and competitive. Ankita Raina is having a fine run, including this week in Jakarta. Rutuja made the semifinals of the $40,000 event in Bengaluru. Karman Kaur Thandi has been playing on and off. She is training and preparing,” mentioned Shalini.

The staff has two new playersin Vaidehi Chaudhari and Sahaja Yamalapalli.

“Both Sahaja and Vaidehi have been playing very well. They are hungry, competitive and ready to perform,” mentioned Shalini.

With Radhika Tulpule Kanitkar because the coach, and Ajeeta Goel because the physio, will probably be an all-women staff for the primary time.

“It is great that the AITA has shown confidence in us, in selecting such a team,” mentioned Shaini.

With two groups qualifying for the World Group play-off and two groups being relegated to group-2, it's certainly a problem for India, when it competes in a round-robin league format in opposition to China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Uzbekistan.